See all of Us
by Mable
Summary: What if all the events that occurred were simply a vision of Six's? Well they were and now it's up to Six to warn the others and to stop the fate that will soon be upon them. However, even with the vision, can the Stitchpunks survive?
1. Chapter One: Not just a Dream

**Mable: Alright, here we go, a bit nervous. Let me explain a few things.**_ One_**; I have many other unfinished fics and this one has more speed then length. It will be a bit rushed. **_Two_**; this is my first 9 fic so I might be off and a bit vague on details. I've seen the movie only once, most of my facts come from fics I read, other facts I create to fill the gaps. Also some characters might be a bit OOC, some on purpose, some not. **_Three_**; I came up with this idea, searched to make sure no one else had anything similar, and then wrote. I did not copy anyone, just reassuring in case this event occurs. **_Four_**; This is basically my 'Super Bokkun Sunshine' of 9 fics. It is the first one I've ever wrote, later fics will be written better. **_**Five**_**; is cute. ^-^ Yeah, heh, couldn't help it. **_**Six**_**; I would like to thank xXBroken-Wings-ForeverXx for giving me that little push to get this fic up and introducing me to 9 with her great fic. That's it, I'm done, I don't own 9, if I did the events in this fic would've occurred instead, or have been like an alternate ending. Enjoy!**

_**See all of us**_

_Chapter 1: Not just a dream_

Six screamed. Not a normal scream of a nightmare but a more horrific scream that almost sent One jumping off his throne. Almost, but not quite, causing a decent twitch though. The older sent a glare at the room the noises were coming from. Of course, Six would have to start screaming now in the middle of the day. "Want me to deal with him?" Eight asked quickly and One glared, "I know how you 'deal' with things. If I sent you over there then you'd only make it worst." Thankfully someone else came to Six's aid at this time, Five, Two's apprentice. He practically ran into the room most likely thinking that Eight had gotten ahold of him.

"He's going to die out there! I saw it! We're all going to die!"

_We're all going to die._ What a great thing to hear right after Two left to… No, scout, that was it. He sent him to scout. If the others asked he sent him to scout. As though it couldn't get any worse, suddenly Six ran out of his room with Five a little behind him trying to calm him down. One watched as the stitch punk ran up to him and grabbed his hand, which he flinched to and tried to draw away, "What is wrong with you!" Six's mismatched optics were wide as he spoke out, "Saw… Two… He's going to be taken… Then after it gets the source… It'll take his." One blinked a bit, slightly shocked at what Six was saying. Secretly he was more then aware of the souls inside them, but it wasn't important in his own opinion.

"He's going to die… If you don't stop it from getting him." Now One's gaze narrowed, "How can I believe anything you say. All you do is spit out nonsense." The striped stitchpunk shook his head, "No, no. You must listen. He'll be taken. Two will be the first to die." Silence, "The first?" Now Five was speaking from a decent distance away with his optic wide in horror, actually believing him. One was growing increasingly upset, "I'm not listening to your 'nightmares'." He spoke firmly and Six looked heartbroken before stumbling back, "You're going to let him die." Then suddenly he ran back towards his room with Five tailing him again, the apprentice not wanting to look at the one who could be condemning his teacher.

One watched them leave before turning to Eight, "I need you to do something." Eight nodded in understanding and started towards Six's room, "Not that, you idiot! I want you to go out into the emptiness and find Two, watch him, and if anything starts attacking him you will defend him. Then bring him back here." This was surprising, One never believed Six's visions were real, he merely thought it was a cry, or scream, for attention. However, One had this feeling in his gut that if he didn't send Eight after Two that he would regret it. As the bigger stitchpunk stepped into the bucket lift One had a quick feeling, "I made the right choice in the matter. I can't do anymore then I already have."

Little did he know, he had already done more than enough.

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><p>Swerving around, ducking in weaving; these actions made Eight feel like he was doing something serious when he was really just walking through the empty emptiness doing nothing. Eventually he had found Two who seemed to be… With another stitchpunk? Eight could clearly see the '9' on this one's back and made a mental note of it. It seemed like Two was fine, so Eight thought about finding something else to do and then saying that he did it, which he did quite frequently on small unimportant tasks. This didn't seem too important, Six was probably wrong as usual. So he turned away and started back towards the cathedral, muttering about how it was Six that caused him to get stuck out here for no reason.<p>

That was, until he heard the distinct sound of a machine coming from somewhere away. Looking back over he noticed that Nine was now hidden in a can while Two was standing there with his makeshift weapon. As the creature suddenly showed its face and tried to leap at Two, Eight ran into the battle with knife in hand…

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><p>When it had been considerably a while One had regretted sending Eight out. Needless to say he was a little confused at what occurred next. Eight carrying two stitchpunks in from the lift before abruptly dropping one at his feet. It was Two, and he made a noise of discomfort as he hit the unforgiving ground. One glared, "Why would you… Never mind." He looked at the other stitchpunk in Eight's grasp for a second, then noticed that Two was starting to push himself up, "Take him to Five so he can fix him." Eight nodded and started to Five's room, "Not there." Turning, Eight started towards the workshop, "He's with Six." Eight spun around, "This is so confusing." He muttered out under his breath. Then he started to head to the other room, moving quickly for lost time.<p>

The first thing Two saw when he finally managed to get himself up was a glaring One on his throne only about a few inches away. "I told you this would happen." Two was still a bit dazed as he stood, "It was fine. The machine heard me, it was my fault." The glare intensified, "So you _were_ attacked?" The Inventor went to defend himself, standing up all the way, only to grip his side in pain realizing there was a large tear resting there. The other noticed his wince, "And you're injured! I told you this was a foolish idea, but you never listen to me! You only take in your own thoughts! Then I have to tarnish the last of my reputation and tell the others that I sent you out to scout! Why would I send the oldest out to scout?"

"I-"

"Before you say it, I know I am the oldest! You do not need to point it out!" As if there couldn't be a worst time for Six to run in and embrace Two, "You're alive! You're alive! It was going to take you but you're here!" He searched over the inventor, "Where is it?"

"Where is what?" Two asked, still a little slowed down from being carried and dropped. "The source!" Slowly Two seemed to realize something, before speaking, "Six I… I need to speak with One alone." The artist's eyes widened a bit before slowly leaving, knowing this wasn't good. There was a pause as he inhaled and exhaled, "The creature that attacked us took it." One was still glaring, "Took what?" He started to explain, "Nine had a talisman that resembled the source that Six draws. The beast… It wanted it. It was drawn to it." At this the leader could only stare at him. Silence overtook them. "One?" Two asked in a hushed tone as One shook his head, not about to believe that Two had been only seconds from being taken. Not only that but he had a feeling like he remembered the talisman somewhere.

"_It's how I made you. I know it sounds absurd, but I must do it. You will understand someday."_

"One… I think that they wanted it for a reason…" Two whispered as though he was coming onto something, "I can barely remember the Scientist from when I was newely made... I think he spoke of the Talisman and I think we need to-"

"If you're about to suggest that we go after it to get a talisman you can think again. You're injured, not one of them is able to fight against whatever is in there, and I'm really not in the mood to go running headfirst into something we could be wrong about." Then he dropped back onto his throne. One was still trying to ignore the memory trying to surface in his mind. The Inventor wasn't surprised from One's answer and started to back away, "I need to go sew this…" Then he left just like that. One watched him leave before gripping his head in a surge of frustration. Six had been right, Two almost died, but he had this horrible feeling that this wasn't the end.

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><p>When Two first entered Six's room he almost crashed into Eight who was leaving the room, still carrying Nine, "Where in the hell am I supposed to put him?" He asked back to Five who seemed a bit flustered while trying to lead the bully in the right direction. As he passed his mentor he asked if he was okay, Two lied, saying he was perfectly fine to the apprentice before he left. The Inventor knew he should have immediately went and sewn himself up. Instead he had to talk with Six first, he knew there was something else Six knew. "Six?" The artist's head shot up from his position on the floor, "Two!" He seemed unusually cheerful. The Inventor stepped closer, "Six… Did you have one of your… Dreams, again?" The younger nodded, "I did." Two approached the next subject cautiously, "What exactly did you see?"<p>

"The machine took you and the source. It used the source to kill you. It took your source out of you and…" Six stopped before speaking, "Two… Do you have the source?" Two's voice caught as he heard the almost desperate tone in the younger's words, "No." The Artist stared for a second before his head dropped to stare at the picture that he had been working on, "Then we're… Coming after us…" he could catch a glimpse of the picture, of the drawing of darkness surrounding a single 'eye', and was afraid. As though it was evil, as though it could kill them, as though it was familiar. Too familiar for comfort. In fact, it was as though he had seen it before somewhere.

But that couldn't be. Right?

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><p><strong>Mable: I have NEVER been this anxious about a fic I was writing. I detected OOC-ness and such, I'm trying to work the small kinks out. Please don't flame, I will take helpful criticism but please no heavy flames. Also, if you're wondering, One and Two are somewhat in an established relationship, a secret one. So yeah... Right… Time to post this… Ha, yeah. Okay. I hope you enjoyed!<strong>


	2. Chapter Two: A risky Plan

**Mable: Chapter Two. Same as before. I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

_**See all of us**_

_Chapter Two: A risky plan_

In the hours that followed the incident of Two almost getting killed, Nine awoke and actually seemed to be fine over then a small rip in his burlap. The Inventor noticed that Nine and Five were quickly becoming friends and it made a small smile form on his face. However, it faded away after a little bit. He knew that letting the creature get the talisman was the biggest mistake he had ever made, the worst thing he could ever let happen. With Six's cryptic words laced in his head he feared that others would be attacked. Not only that, but he feared for One, not sure exactly why though. One was fine, but they had been together the longest, sometimes he wondered if he'd be able to function without his leader. He shook his head to knock the thoughts away.

This was when Two decided to again confront One about going to retrieve the talisman. He left the workshop and headed into the throne room where the stitchpunk target was perched on his throne as usual. Eight was at his usual post beside him, looking a bit bored and probably tempted to go bully Six. Two hoped he wouldn't, Six had been holed up in his room ever since he found out that the talisman had been taken by the beast that assaulted them. One seemed a bit zoned out so it seemed like the best time to speak to him. "One, we need to talk." The leader's usual glare set in, "I know what you wish to talk about Two, and I'll tell you now that my mind hasn't changed. We will not go after it. It is not worth it."

"It is." Six's voice spoke up out of nowhere. Two looked back at the artist only to see a paper rolled up in his hand that was being crushed on accident, "Need it. Or we will have our sources taken away." At this he practically ran across the room to Eight, "Here." He practically shoved it into the larger's grasp. Eight took it with a bit of confusion, not willing to actually bully him right now when being watched by One and Two. He opened the paper up, "What is it?" Six spoke softly, "It's upside down." Eight fixed it and the image was a bit clearer. Some sort of machine with a long body, something unseeable connected to its tail, and the head of a baby doll for a head, "What's it supposed to be?"

"The one who'll take you. You're next." Silence. Then Eight ripped the picture up, "Not playing this game." He growled and dropped the shredded paper to the ground. This didn't affect Six much, "You're next." These words triggered Eight to step closer and mutter threateningly, "Stop saying that." Again Six spoke, "Saw it take your source." That was when Eight lashed out at Six, hitting him and knocking him to the ground. At this point Two came over to stop him from continuing, helping up the artist. One glared at Eight, "Six is the only reason Two is alive right now. I'd listen to what he has to say." The bodyguard started to pick up the shreds, "Did you see this thing that he said is comin' after me?"

"We don't know if it's coming or not, but since Six predicted the thing going after Two we should believe that he might be right about other things. Or at least prepare in case more occurs." One taking Six's side was a shock for everyone, especially One himself. This gave Six the courage to continue, "We need to get the source! It can't take ours without it! Please One I-"

"No!" One practically cried out, almost driven to the brink of insanity, "No going to that factory! All that will happen is we will all end up dead! Do you want that?" The artist fell almost silent, whispering out, "Factory?" The leader noticed his slip up but simply shook his head, "It doesn't make any difference. I'm not risking all I've worked for, for a Talisman that may or may not help us."

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><p>To say that Nine felt like this whole event was his own fault was an understatement. The way that Six said that the creature that attacked earlier, the Cat Beast as Five referred to it, would use the talisman to destroy the Stitchpunks only elevated this. He should have just kept it inside himself, but he didn't and now it was gone. Of course there was a temptation growing inside of him. He stopped watching the commotion in the throne room and headed up to the watchtower where Five was, probably watching out for if any of the machines were nearby. Once there he immediately jumped to the point, "I'm going to go get the Talisman." At first Five looked at him like he was insane.<p>

"You don't even know where it was taken." The Apprentice was ready to convince his newest friend not to go. However Nine seemed bent on going, "One mentioned a factory." He took control of the telescope towards what he guessed was the factory, "I have to get it before anyone else gets hurt." Then he glanced back, "We need to go get it and bring it back."

"We?"

"It can't be that hard. We'll just have to be careful."

"We?" The second time that Five asked Nine actually answered, "The thing almost took Two. If we don't stop it then it might come back." This didn't help, "B-But we'll be going to it." It took a few more minutes for Nine to finally convince Five on going, "We'll be quick. We can get it done for Two since One won't let him leave. If we don't everyone else could be at risk." The one eyed one let out a soft sigh, "…Okay…"

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><p>Two sorted out the objects in his workshop around to keep his mind off of the fear that somewhere lingered in the back of his mind. Move this, move that, drop something, pick it up, and repeat. He had also noticed that Five had seemed to vanish. He decided to check Five's 'room' only to find his apprentice not there either. Now he became concerned. It had only been earlier when he was attacked and he knew the Cat Beast could return. His side still ached a bit from the stitches, which would go away but was a reminder that even the littlest scratch could affect them horribly. Slow them down, break their concentration, or much worst. The Inventor started to check the other rooms.<p>

The next place he checked was the crevice that used to be Seven's room. Seven, she had left with the young twins when One became too obsessed with Seven not leaving the cathedral. Now it was empty and Two was left to stare, hoping that wherever the three were, they were okay. Searching longer he realized that it was like Five had disappeared. Then he froze solid, "No…" Running as fast as he could with a stitched side and a limp he made his way back to the watchtower where he stared through the telescope searching, "No Five. No, no, no…" He then saw two figures far in the distance heading towards the factory. Towards the factory that was now looking more alive. "Five…"

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><p>The factory wasn't too hard to get into and once inside it was just climbing through what appeared to be trash. "Where do you think it is?" Nine asked as he searched through some pieces of metal. Five was a few feet away, moving much slower and more carefully, "Nine… I don't think we should just run in like this." A weird sound could be heard as something was moving nearby. "Get down." He whispered as he dropped behind a piece of metal. Nine actually went forward a bit and caught a glimpse of the Cat Beast from before. It was approaching something that looked like a piece of trash, or a pile, it didn't look important other than some sort of small place that looked like the talisman could be inserted into.<p>

That was when he realized that was the plan. The Cat Beast put it in and the 'thing', which turned out to not be trash at, seemed to come to life. Nine's optics widened at the sight of the large machine with a bright red eye. He almost let out a cry of fear, because he felt something coming from it. Like he knew what it was and knew it would hurt them. Spinning around the stitchpunk started to run towards the exit, grabbing Five's hand to tug him up, "Run!" He whispered sharply before again running. Five hadn't seen much of the machine but knew to run behind his friend, actually quite glad to get away. They climbed out of the factory and started through the emptiness towards the cathedral.

Before they got more than two feet they were stopped. The Cat Beast had heard them, came after them, leapt over them, and was now before them. Nine lifted his Lightstaff, which he had made before they entered the factory, in defense as Five pulled a pair of sharp shears from his pack. The Beast was quick and went for Five, not seeming to like the bright light from the staff. It tried to crush Five who moved out of the way and impaled its leg with the shears. It made a weird noise before hitting Five and sending him skidding across the ground, losing his grasp on the shears that were now stuck into the beast's leg. Before it could go and finish the job Nine brought his Lightstaff closer in an attempt to drive it off. It certainly squealed like it was in pain.

It then knocked Nine back a bit before trying to dig its sharp teeth into his fabric. Five climbed back to his feet and ran over to yank the shears from its leg before turning them upwards to plunge them into the beast's neck. This finally caused it to stumble a bit before getting over him, teeth bared, ready to end his life. Nine wouldn't be able to make it over in time; he knew it and could only stare in shock as the next events took place. What appeared to be a stitchpunk in makeshift armor of avian bones jumped onto its back and sunk a spear behind its head right where the shears went through below. There was a snapping noise as it twisted the spear in a way that it broke the neck of the beast.

Then the stitchpunk jumped off, landing on the ground gracefully with spear still in hand. Behind her the Cat Beast's head suddenly seemed to lose the ability to stay up. Something important was hit, and with one last stab from the shears the head detached. Five had to quickly get away before the head smashed into the ground. There was a soft second as Five took in the sight of the one who saved them. He stared in shock before he ran forward and embraced her, "Seven!" The joy in his voice was the first thing that Nine could recognize. He realized that the two most know each other. "What are you doing here?" Seven asked quickly, after her own second of shock from being embraced, "It's dangerous to be here."

Five explained what was going on. All details from Six's vision, Two being saved, and finally coming to the factory, "-That's when we got attacked. Whatever was awoken is still in there." Seven let the information sink in, a bit taken aback by some parts of the story, then spoke, "Here. Come with me." She then started to walk away, the two males simply watching her before following as well. It wasn't like they could face anything worse then what was in the factory that had awoken. That almost saw them.

That knew they had been there.

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><p><strong>Mable: Again, please don't flame, but please review. I hope you enjoyed!<strong>


	3. Chapter Three: Falling more than Usual

**Mable: Again a disclaimer; I don't own 9. I AM tempted on making a Five plush though. I might own most of that. ^-^ Enjoy! **

_**See all of us**_

_Chapter Three: Falling more than usual_

"So Six was right about the source. When One was just ignoring him, he was trying to warn us." Seven spoke softly as she headed deeper into the library with Five and Nine trailing behind her while they scanned the building with their optics. It had taken a little while to arrive at the building but thankfully they weren't attacked by anything else. "Two is completely fine?" The apprentice nodded, "He wanted to go get the Talisman, but One was against it." Seven nodded, "As much as I hate it, I guess One was somewhat right, it was dangerous." She wasn't willing to let One get any kind of victory though, "But now it's awake. It could've been stopped if he hadn't been so afraid." While the two spoke Nine looked around at the large library around him. It was amazing, in fact, everything seemed amazing to someone who hadn't seen much of the world.

At this time Nine hadn't been looking and almost ran into the two who had come up to him. They looked identical in every way as they seemed to be drawn to the newcomer. Nine was soon brought up to speed that the two were the twins, Three and Four. Immediately after this they became interested in the light staff, taking the bulb off to look at it. They spoke in flashing through their eyes in their own language that they both understood. Right around this point Five finally said something that he could hear, "We have to go warn the others." While not concerning herself the least over One, Seven understood about Five's worry for Two. She herself had grown close to the older stitchpunk and was pleased to hear that he was alive from Six's efforts.

"I won't go back though, I'm not getting trapped again." Seven said quickly, Five nodded a bit, "I understand. I guess we'll just go and… We'll be back. "Suddenly Five seemed to run out of words so Nine spoke, "It's not like One can trap us there." With a small humorless chuckle Seven shook her head, "You'd be surprised." Before Nine and Five could leave they heard something at the entrance. Turning around they stared in complete shock.

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><p>"They went to the factory!" When Two's voice rang out he was running into the throne room. On his throne, One was still deep in thought until the Inventor came in, "Who went to the factory?" Honestly he already knew the answer, but didn't want to even acknowledge that they got past him and left. "Five and Nine, they left when they heard you mention the factory." Now Two was practically panicking, "They could get killed in there. We have to go after them. We can't just pretend they don't exist like we did with the Talisman." A few seconds into the beginning of something that Two knew would be a long drawn out battle to convince the leader. Even Six was entered the room to listen to what was occurring.<p>

"That's suicide Two. You know that we're no more fit to fight then they are." One spoke harshly and stood up to approach the Inventor, "Do you not remember earlier? Has your mind fallen blank?" He asked and Two's optics dropped, "I don't care. I can't let him get hurt One. Not again." The last words were whispered out and One felt his glare soften. He knew that Two felt guilty for Five's o-

A loud smashing noise as something broke through the stained glass window behind them. One fell onto Two, basically shielding the Inventor from glass. A large bird like beast broke through the window with a screeching cry. Eight was immediately ready to fight and got ready with his long knife in his grasp, "This better not be the thing Six said was gonna kill me!" One stumbled a bit, ignoring Eight, and got up, pulling Two to his feet with him. It was then that he noticed the Beast had knocked over a candle that had been off to the side of the room and a fire was beginning to start. "We must get out of here!" Before the beast could attack One lead the others to the window where they climbed out. Running across the roof was easier said than done, especially when the Beast came out of the cathedral behind them.

It seemed like out running the flying monster was impossible. It swooped down towards the four and One was first to fight back, still holding his staff through the whole event. It knocked the bird back a bit where Eight then took a swing at it, his knife slicing into its body work. It shrieked and went to hit them. Instead it hit Two who lost his footing and ended up sliding back before falling over the edge of the roof. His hands gripped onto the edge as his tried to keep from falling. In desperation One practically leapt down to grab him, hands locking with Two's before he dropped over the edge. He tried to pull them up when something else hit him in the back, pushing him over the edge.

At first he thought it was the beast until he realized whatever it was grabbed him by the leg, "Dammit Eight!" He called out as he watched his hat fall before his view getting obstructed by redness. One growled in frustration when he realized his cape had flipped over and was now covering his face. This had turned into the most embarrassing and frustrating situation that could possibly occur, and yet they still had the Beast flying around. One looked down in desperation and realized that the roof was lower then he thought. He made a risky decision, "Eight, drop us." Two looked at him in fear but with trust still lingering. Eight was hesitant, "But I- What if-"

"Just do it!" With that cry One and Two were let go and dropped down onto a pile of no longer used objects. They fell together and ended up rolling down the small pile before landing in a heap at the bottom. The beast didn't follow them down and instead stayed near Eight and Six. One pushed himself up, "I will kill Eight when I get the chance." It took a second for Two to actually pull himself together and sit up as well, "That Beast… It knew we were here…" That was when he noticed the fire actually spreading and now visible from outside the cathedral. "We've lost everything." One's voice held a tone that Two hadn't heard in a very long time, one of uncertainty and fear, "We're slowly losing everything that we have."

Meanwhile Eight was still on the roof with Six, running up the side of the roof with his blade in his hand. The Beast was circling around and ready to come down to attack Six who was now standing alone. As the beast came down Eight ran up, around Six, and impaled the Beast. However, he didn't expect for the following to happen. The knife stuck in and Eight started getting dragged by the retreating Beast who was flying a few inches off the roof. He could hear Six screaming for him, "Let go! Let go!" However, the artist didn't realize exactly who he was trapped with, "I'm not lettin' go!" there was no way Eight would release his weapon. As they rose higher though the knife slid out and Eight was dropped back to the roof top.

The Beast again flew into the air to circle around and fly back down. Six glanced around in shock before seeing One's staff still on the roof. He lifted it and as the machine flew over he tried to stab upwards at it. Instead of hitting the body it struck the wing, into the wing, and as the Beast flew away the wing was slowly ripped apart. The creature shrieked and Eight smirked, "Not so tough now!" The Beast crashed into the roof where Eight started to attack it with his knife until it stopped moving. The bully finally pulled away, Six staring at him, and smirked, "Right. He's done for." Of course, his swollen ego suddenly dying when he tripped, skidded down the side of the roof, and fell off. It was a longer drop then One and Two suffered but he somehow survived it.

His optics slowly opened to see Six peering over far above him, "Eight?" He seemed concerned and Eight groaned a bit, "Is this how I die? Cause it feels like it." The artist was scared to drop down from the height, even though the fire was slowly spreading. "Eight..." He stuttered out a bit in fear. The Bully noticed his hesitance, "It's not gonna kill you. Jump." He stood beneath Six's position as he spoke. When Six still didn't jump down he repeated, "I said ju-" suddenly Six dropped down and landed onto Eight on accident. Eight found himself fall over face down onto the ground with the small stitchpunk on top of his back. "S-Sorry." He stuttered as he climbed off. This was when One and Two made their way around, "There you two are… What exactly are you doing?"

"Dying."

"You can do that when I lose use for you." One said as he turned to look up at the spreading fire, "Everything is gone…" He felt Two's hand on his shoulder, "It's alright One. We can rebuild somewhere else." The leader shook his head a bit, "Nothing will ever amount to what we built here." There was silence for a second before Two's hand slid down until touching his hand, "We're alive. Isn't that enough?" There was a pause as One watched the blaze spread. Then his own hand clasped back, "I guess so." There was a little longer of the two simply standing there holding hands, until Six spoke up, "The library. We go to the library."

One glanced over, "Library?" Then Eight chimed up, "What's a library?" This received weird looks from Two and One, Six merely ignoring it. "Library. Seven is there. We have to go there like I saw… But…" He forced a smile, "Two is alive. We're all alive. We'll be okay." This was said in a way to reassure everyone. They'd have a long walk ahead anyway, a little hope couldn't harm anyone.

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><p>Nine and Five could only stare at the sight before him. One, Two, Six, and Eight stood there looking roughed up. Most were missing different objects of theirs, they all looked dusty as though they were on the ground, and only Six looked like he was glad to be alive, smiling insanely. One looked beyond ticked off, "Well I have been really enjoying my day. Six has had dreams that come true, Two almost died, you two ran off, I was attacked by a giant flying Beast, and the cathedral burnt down. Now I think it's time we get our priorities together before anymore chaos befalls us."<p>

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><p><strong>Mable: Even I have to agree with One here. Priorities need to be fixed or everything will go a lot more downhill. So my keyboard is kind of on the fritz…. Just being really, really careful here. Okay, I'm willing to take any reviews… Please, still go gentle on me though. My nerves are still a jumble of… Nerves? I hope you enjoyed!<strong>


	4. Chapter Four: Taken Away

**Mable: Chapter Four! Here it is!... :D-isclaimer; I don't own 9! Enjoy! **

_**See all of us**_

_Chapter Four: Taken away_

If looks could kill then both Seven and One would drop dead on the spot. Both were still upset at each other, angry, and healing wasn't an option. Ignoring them though, or pretending they were fine with being in each other's presence, Two was quick to check Five and make sure he was okay. It was a relief to see his apprentice in one piece and as safe as possible at a time like this. It took a minute for One to finally speak, "It's not safe here." He turned to Eight, "Go outside and stand guard. If you see anything come back and tell us. I'm not getting caught in another fire." The bully left and the Warrior questioned, "It burnt to the ground? Well at least it's no longer a prison." The leader glared back, "It was our sanctuary. We have nothing now."

Before it could spiral out of control Two stepped in to settle whatever dispute would arise, "Let's not argue. Everyone is just a little over stressed right now. We should just calm down and figure out what we should do next." That was when Nine found the appropriate time to explain what he saw, "The thing that attacked us took the talisman and put it inside some sort of bigger machine, but it wasn't a normal machine. It felt like there was something different about it. We left the factory to get away and got attacked by the other machine that attacked Two." One rubbed his temples, "The Cat Beast." Nine nodded, "Something was in that factory that they wanted awake... That's why they took the Talisman."

Six could care less about what they were saying right now. All he could think of was Eight. He knew that he would be next attacked, but for some reason he couldn't really remember where he was attacked. For some reason the dream was starting to fade away a bit, every time Six tried to reach out with his mind and remember he felt even more slip off. He shivered a bit as he stared at the ground, only looking up when he felt a hand on his shoulder, "Six?" It was Five who looked concerned, "Are you okay?" The artist forced a small smile as he responded, "No."

* * *

><p>To say that Eight enjoyed this whole scenario was a pure lie. As he sat outside, in what was now the dark, he got to contemplate everything that occurred, which he didn't want to do. Time for his magic eraser, his magnet to give him that buzzed feeling and take away all the self-doubt. It was only then that he realized that his magnet was gone. He flashed onto him falling off the roof of the cathedral, realizing he lost his magnet, and swore to himself. Now here came the thoughts again, piling up to break him down. Something was after him next, but he wasn't sure what it was. Now he regretted tearing up that drawing that Six had gave him as it was his only indication of what was coming next.<p>

That was when movement could be heard and Eight stood slowly. His knife shined dangerously as he prepared himself for whatever was about to appear. The noises were soft and came from behind a knocked over statue. Slowly he moved forward only to hear the noises growing a bit louder as the thing approached. Then he saw it… And immediately lowered his guard as he noticed it was the smaller striped one, "What're you doing out here?" Eight asked in annoyance as he realized he had been worried over him. No, not worried, on the verge of panicking. Eight didn't want to die tonight or any other night. He returned to his previous post and awaited the answer.

Six was moving a bit hesitantly, "Came to see if you were alright." The artist clutched his key as he walked towards him. "I can take of myself." Eight quickly countered as the smaller sat beside him. There was a minute of silence before Six spoke, "I'm afraid you're going to… T-To…" His voice cracked a bit as he tried to keep himself together, "I don't want us to die…" Then he did something that Eight hadn't ever seen him do before; he started to cry. There were no tears, since Stitchpunks didn't make them, just shaking and sobbing. It was a few seconds before Eight spoke, because he couldn't take the crying, "We're not gonna die." This barely helped, "You didn't see it."

At this point Eight didn't know why he even bothered. Up until this moment he spent his life slowly tormenting Six; ripping up his pictures, pouring his ink out on top of his yarn topped head, many little acts. He didn't want to do what he was about to do, but he had no choice. Eight sucked it up and spoke quickly, "Sorryforhittingyouearlier." The artist blinked his optics a bit, "What?" Eight repeated slower, mentally beating himself to an inch of his life, "I said; Sorry for hitting you earlier." The words were forced out slowly and he had to deal with a staring Six. Thankfully it did calm the artist down a bit, "My fault… It's my fault… Shouldn't have told you like that. I scared you."

Six hit the wrong strings at that point, "You didn't _scare_ me. You were just bein' creepy as usual." Immediately Eight wanted to shoot himself as he heard Six making a small whimpering noise. "Ah hell…" Change of subject, "How do I go out?" Now Six looked up, "Go out?"

"You know, how does it get me? Do I put up a decent fight?" Eight's words seemed to paralyze Six who spoke softly, "Eight… Why do you…?" The bully leaned back a bit, "What did I do wrong? How'd it finally get me? Come on Six, you got to give my some ideas." He could find out what he did wrong and fix it, just like that, then Six wouldn't cry, Eight would live, and the world would go on. Six thought as he spoke, "I… You stopped like you couldn't move and it wrapped you up before taking you. It's…" Suddenly his mind drew a blank, "It had something… On it's… tail… That…" Silence. "That did what?" Eight asked and Six started to hyperventilate, "Can't remember! I can barely remember the dream!"

That was when they heard the sound of something coming. They both looked around in alarm, "Yeah, that doesn't sound that good." Eight stood up and got in a fighting position as Six thought of what they could do. He turned towards the library, "Need to tell the others." As he glanced behind he was immediately shocked at when he saw a green light coming from behind him, a weird noise, and Eight wasn't doing or saying anything. Six slowly turned around to see it, the Seamstress, its tail connected to what appeared like a stitchpunk. He knew it was hypnotizing Eight as soon as his blade dropped to the ground beneath him.

When the lights stopped Six was able to look up since he had covered his eyes to stop the effects of the tail. He could see the Seamstress heading towards Eight and did the only thing that came to mind, he leapt in front of the Bully. He was grasped by something sharp, but he didn't open his optics so he couldn't tell what it was. Then he felt himself start to get wrapped up in something. His optics slowly opened only to have the tail right in front of him. Green flashes, and Six was in complete euphoria. He could think straight, he couldn't feel much, and it was as though everything was suddenly okay. Everything was completely perfect, nothing existed, and then nothingness.

That was when the others came out and saw it. The first two out were Three and Four who were hypnotized as soon as they were close enough. The Seamstress was smart; it knew it would take longer to wrap up Eight then the smaller ones. So it went for the smaller ones. Lifting Four it began to wrap her up as fast as possible, having to stop and hypnotize Eight again who seemed to be coming around. Soon that was two, right around the time One made it out there, "What's going on?" He stopped immediately, caught in the light as well. Finally the others came out, immediately Seven lunged for the Beast that turned to vanish into the night, taking the Stitchpunks inside its body.

The female's spear went into its side and tore through it. The creature shrieked and turned the lights on her, Seven wasn't able to look away and dropped to the ground unable to move. As the Seamstress went for her Five suddenly guarded her, while Nine used his light staff to somewhat stun it, and impaled its tail with his shears. The end of the tail dropped off to the ground and the creature let out one last shriek before starting to take off. Five was still holding onto the shears that were lodged into the tail, until finally he released the shears and was left on the ground. Right afterwards the Seamstress flicked its tail and the shears flipped off then stuck into the ground.

Two went for One, shaking him a bit, "One?" The leader was still under heavy hypnosis and merely stared ahead. The Inventor shook him a bit in panic. "One, speak to me." He snapped his fingers a bit before the other for a few seconds. Still no response, which lead to a sigh, then suddenly Two pulled his hand back, bringing it against One's cheek sharply. His optics changed size as he came back to realization, "Two?" He felt a sting in his cheek, "Did you just slap me?" A nice moment of complete awkwardness between the two as the Inventor refused to answer. Seven was still under as Five tried to wake her by shaking her frame a bit, not noticing the scene only a little ways away. This had been chaos, and even worse: Six had, yet again, been right.

* * *

><p>It had been around fifteen minutes later when the hypnosis finally wore off by various shaking techniques. "We have to go get them."<p>

"That may be possibly the most foolish thing we could ever do. I am not having us all be killed."

"They're still alive! We can't let them die like this! Six has only kept us alive, he doesn't deserve this!" The argument between One and Seven was one that quickly grew. Neither wanted anymore of them taken, both seeing this through different optics. Two was again trying to stop them, "Fighting won't solve anything." Still they continued. Three was actually crying, her eyes making small flashes as she wept for her sister. She clutched onto the closest thing in range, being Nine who had tried to give some comfort. Five stood by Two and tried to help him stop the fighting. Then there was Eight, who was having a bit of a rough time dealing with the event. Six took the fate meant for him and was now going to suffer for being selfless.

It was obvious that the two had a complicated bond. One of hate, bullying, maybe a shred of friendship somewhere, but this was much different. That was when the Bully realized what he needed to do, "We have to go after 'em." He spoke up to One for the first time in his life. This took One back a bit, "What was that?"

"Can't leave 'em. I can go by myself." There was a small pause as One stared Eight down. Then he spoke, "You all wish to go there? Even though you know you might die?" A few nods, "…Fine." One actually backed down, "But we're not just going in head first without a plan." Seven nodded in agreement, a rare sight between the two. That was when Nine spoke up, "We've got to hurry though. Whatever that was in the factory wants us for a reason. I can feel it. I think we're running out of time." Nine felt that he was right.

He was.

* * *

><p><strong>Mable: Ah those cryptic little tidbits of foreshadowing. Got to love them. My keyboard is STILL off so if there are a few mess-ups I apologize and will fix them as soon as I know about them. Not all are mistakes though. Six saying 'No' wasn't a mistake; he's being cryptic as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! <strong>


	5. Chapter Five: Racing with time

**Mable: Chapter Five. I thought of naming it 'is cute'. As in, 'Five is cute'. Get it?... Yeah, this is filler. Heh, okay, here we go! :D-isclaimer; I don't own 9! I wish I owned Five… We could have fun. Stay up all night and play Video Games together! ^w^ Enough of me, Enjoy! **

_**See all of us**_

_Chapter Five: Racing with time_

"That's where we went in." Nine explained as he pointed forward. They were now outside the factory after a few minutes of walking, staring at the entrance that dropped down into the depths of the factory. One could only shake his head, "Amazing, we will just be handing ourselves over to it." The others were beyond the point of going back though, so he continued, "Some of us will go inside. The rest should stay out here while we come up with a plan to attack. I'm certain that whatever is inside will come out after those who venture in. Eight-" That was when Eight suddenly ran into the factory, ignoring what One was saying and going head first in. Seven dashed in a little bit after, followed by Nine and a slightly hesitant Five.

"And you swear that they know what they're doing." The leader growled at the Inventor who seemed very interested in a gasoline drum some ways away, "I think I have a plan." Meanwhile, Eight dashed into main area and immediately noticed the Seamstress heading the over to the leader, the beast with the red eye, Six in its grasp. Eight glared at it and was about to spring when he heard Nine, "I'll make a distraction. You two get it from the back." Eight somewhat acknowledged Seven behind him but merely turned to Nine, "Just hurry! We're not gettin' any safer!" The younger nodded before circling around the opposite side of the area, lighting his staff to the highest extent to catch the gaze of the creatures.

Eight then sprang into action, slashing through the seamstress' body and slicing it open. Four's body dropped through onto the ground, followed by Six's dropped body before the Seamstress. Seven leapt forward to deal with the Seamstress, finishing it, "Eight, grab Four and Six! Get them out of here!" He dashed forward and managed to grab both, slinging them over his shoulders. Then Five, who only then got down there, got to witness a blur as Eight ran around him and out of the factory. Seven glanced over at the large machine with the glowing red eye, it watched Nine unmoving, as though it was sizing him up. She then gestured to the exit, he nodded, and then she dashed through the exit.

At this point Two, One, and Three were starting to move the drum towards the factory, having a hard time being alone. Before they could finish they were met with the blur known as Eight. "What…" His bodyguard was literally dancing in front of him, as though he was dancing on fire, "I got 'em." That was when Five came out of the factory, "Nine has it stalled, but I don't think he can stop it for long." The panic could be hearable in his voice. That was when One decided to get the plan going, "Help us push this to the entrance, hurry!" Eight dropped the confused Four and the unconscious Six before helping Two and One, Five following suit. This was when Seven made it out of the factory and One spoke up, "Get me some of the thread Six is wrapped in."

"The red stuff?" Eight asked. "Yes, dammit, the red stuff! Hurry! Seven, come over here and help!" Seven didn't want to listen to One, but understood the plan. Two turned to Five, "Do you still have any matches left?" His apprentice stumbled a bit as he grabbed one of the matches from his pack and handed it to Two. Eight practically rolled Six down a slope trying to get the strings off, actually getting them off. He returned to One who twisted part of the strings together to make a fuse before pushing half of it into the small, leaking, opening. Before he could ask for anything else he had the match handed to him, or thrusted into his hand. He slowly looked over at Two, their optics locking for a second before the leader spoke to the others, "Once I light this we have to push it into the factory. Or else we'll all die. The explosion will kill us."

The way One could simply just say that was a bit shocking. Eight could only stare, "Great. We went through all of this and now we're going to die." He seemed to become hysterical, "This is how I'm gonna die." The leader stopped him, "It'll be fine. Now, focus or we'll all get exploded… I mean, blown up." One corrected, scolding himself. Seven smirked, "Well I certainly don't want to _get exploded_." He merely sent her a half-hearted glare, lit the fuse, and they began pushing the drum again, Seven stopping, "Wait, what about Nine?"

"One must be sacrificed for the good of many. He'll be remembered after death." One said in a not caring 'let's just get this done' voice. That was when the stitchpunk in question suddenly came around the barrel and out of the factory. There was the sound of the thing with the red eye coming their way. They got the drum into the entrance, it started to roll inside, and One turned to the others, "Now run!" He started to dash off, the others also running away from the evadable. Eight was, again, stuck with grabbing the two still tangled up but made it with the others as they dashed away from the scene. An explosion took over the factory and engulfed it in a fiery bellow.

* * *

><p>The first thing that came to Six was this weird feeling of being carried. His mismatched optics slid open where he was met with a bizarre sight. He was met with the emptiness, upside down, and slowly moving away from him. He felt something half wrapped around his waist as he spoke, "W-What?" Then he was suddenly dropped, hitting the ground in a heap. He could hear Seven, "Why did you drop him?" Then the sound of One, "He's been doing that for the last few days."<p>

"Dropping people?"

"Surprisingly yes." Six then realized he had been being carried by Eight, upside down, under his arm. A bit odd but it wasn't like he could complain. "What… What happened?" Now he could see Seven leaning over him, "You were almost killed." The artist blinked, "Eight?" she glared in another direction, "Is fine and as ungrateful as ever." He sat up and looked around, "Everyone's… Okay? What about the… About the…" Now One spoke, "Gone, up in smoke like the factory it was hiding in." After this point Two did a quick check over Six, asking if he hurt anywhere and receiving no indication that anything was injured. The artist was helped up, only to stumble a bit, "Steady now."

Soon they were moving at a slow pace through the emptiness, "How long…" Six wasn't used to talking and simply fell silent. Two answered him, "It's only been a few minutes. We only walked a little ways away." Looking over Six could see the factory's remains not that far off, wondering why he hadn't seen them before. "Where… Where are we going?" Seven crossed her arms a bit, "Back to the library at some point." She watched Three and Four wander about in the front of the group before suddenly they seemed to notice something. They rushed ahead a bit too some sort of machine that caught their attention. It was so strange, with a crank and what looked like a place to put a disk of some kind.

The others approached it slowly, not as eager to notice the machine since they were tired with fried nerves. This changed though, Two also examining the machine, "A phonograph. I never thought I'd see another one of these." He beckoned Five to help him as he searched through a box behind it, "Yes, here we are." He pulled out a black disk, a record, his apprentice helping him move it onto the phonograph. He slowly began to set it up turning the crank, suddenly music was produced from the machine. Unlike One and Two, the others hadn't ever actually heard music before and were amazed by it. This seemed like a good time to just rest and get their minds completely together.

Six watched as immediately One alienated himself from the others and wandering off to sit by himself, most likely still upset about cathedral burning down. Two followed him, probably to try and reassure him, and the artist was glad that he had succeeded in saving him. Before he could think of anything else he was suddenly lifted up gasping a small bit. Glancing down he realized he was on Five's shoulders, the apprentice smiling at him, he smiling back as he started to feel a soft hope inside him. Everything was completely alright. Everyone was alive, everyone was happy, save One, and every_thing _would be fine from now on. They were safe for good, forever, and Six actually helped save them.

Back with Two he dropped down beside One, "Why is it that when things finally look up you can turn into a grouch?" The leader sent a soft glare at the Inventor's teasing, "I'm not a grouch. I'm morning our loss." Two smiled, "The loss of your hat?" Now the other was glaring harder, "The loss of our home, not my hat. If you cared you would realize that the watchtower you spent weeks on is now gone. All your work has been wasted. We are back out in the emptiness. I swear I'm not spending another night in a car." The memory caused the other to chuckle a bit, "You must admit it was a nice hiding spot."

"The window was shot out why we were in it." Two shrugged a bit, "It was better than running through the streets." Silence took over. "We can never get it back Two. Our home, our safety, _my dignity_, It's all been shot away like the window was." The Inventor held a quizzical expression, "I thought your dignity resigned in your cape?" One shook his head, "No, of course not, it went up in flames along with our sanctuary. The cape means nothing." Two showed a mock offended look, "I didn't think it meant nothing when I spent hours slaving to make it." There was a soft nod in agreement. "I wasted hours that I could use, oh I don't know, making one of my own."

"Do you find humor in driving me insane?" One asked, growing even more annoyed to the point that he would probably storm off. Two let his head fall over and lie onto his leader's shoulder, "Maybe just a bit." There was a pause as the two simply stayed in each other's presence. A soft smile played on Two's lips as he slid over to grasp One's hand as he had before, "One… Thank you." One stared at the ground, "For what?" The other slid closer a bit, "For not leaving me. I know you sent Eight after me… I know you didn't believe Six, you still made an effort though." This caused One to scoff, "That wasn't an effort, that was the beginning of my dignity going up in flames. You're welcome."

Meanwhile Six was still on Five's shoulders, peering into the cone where the music came out from. "Sound!" He cried out as he looked at the inside. Not knowing to call it 'music', just calling it 'sound' instead. It was amazing and yet the song was oddly familiar for some reason. The striped one ignored it however, instead he continued playing around with Five for a bit. At one point Five had put him down, heading over to say something to Seven about changing the records out. Six noticed how relaxed Seven seemed, especially now that the threat was gone, and possibly because she was talking with Five. It was obvious that the two had missed each other, maybe more then they could've possibly missed anyone else.

In fact, sometimes it had made Six a bit depressed. He had missed Seven just as much as Five had, maybe even more, and yet she seemed to like the other more. Or maybe it was his imagination. It certainly didn't feel like his imagination though. Being honest with himself, he liked Seven, but there was always this thin barrier between them. Which were, of course, not mutual feelings. It was okay though, after she had left he had been able to push the feelings away into the depths of his mind where they could no longer resurface and hurt him. It worked for a while. Until now when they were thrown back together into a vision guided fight to live, one that he could barely remember.

At this point Six decided to move over and sit on the slowly moving crank that softly rose him up, down, and then up again. Every time he rose to the top he could see Eight leaning on the phonograph on the other side. He watched the bully who was simply staring out into the emptiness. The striped one circled back down and up again, Eight still was in the same position and he wondered how he felt about Six leaping in front of him, being taken by the Seamstress instead. He circled back down, started to come back up and was surprised to see Eight now looking at him. Mismatched optics dropped down to the ground as he clutched onto the key that hung around his neck still.

Then that was Five started to go and retrieve another record while Nine took over talking with Seven. Somehow it slid out of his grasp, "Hold on, I'll get that." He said softly as he hurried after it.

_Five ran as fast as possible, but there was no way he could outrun the beast behind him. It lifted him up and…_

_And…_

Suddenly Six cried out, "Five no!" He dropped from the crank, tripping a bit but not caring, "Five! _Five_!" At this point Five had stopped and came back quickly, "Six, what's wrong?" At this point the artist was shivering as the dream reappeared, as he saw the things which were previously forgotten, "Not gone! Not gone! Five wanders off, it gets him, takes his source! Not gone, not gone, not gone, it's not gone!" Six panicked, dropping to his knees and hyperventilating. Two approached and laid a hand on his shoulder, "Six it's okay. It's…" There was a rumble, the ground literally shaking below their feet, something suddenly burst from the rubble of the factory. Again, Six had been right.

They were still in danger.

* * *

><p><strong>Mable: They are having pretty bad luck, aren't they? How long must they be tortured! Only one knows… my computer. It's basically running my life. Random shut offs, disappearing files, keys that don't work; what will it do next? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! <strong>


	6. Chapter Six: Come together, fall apart

**Mable: Chapter Six, Chapter Six, somehow we're already on Chapter Six. Still only one single review, which I'm very thankful for. I guess this is because this is my first 9 fic, I hope it is just that. I know it isn't the best fic I've written but I think it is still worth something... Anyway, I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

_**See all of us**_

_Chapter Six: Come together, fall apart_

Immediately Nine called out, "Run!" That was the cue and suddenly all nine of them were running away from the creature with the red eye, away from certain death. They were treading ground as fast as they possibly could to get away. Not far away they were faced with what appeared to be a deep trench. Glancing around, One pointed out a bridge, "Across the bridge! It might not hold under its weight!" The others followed closely behind and quickly sprinted across the length of the bridge. Once on the other side Seven started going at the part that held it tight to the trench's side. She began trying to uproot it, slice it, anything to destroy it. Five helped her, using his shears as Seven used her spear to destroy the section.

One glared at the bridge, "We don't have time for this! We must keep going!" At this the female glared back, "If this works we won't have to keep running away!" The elder was insulted, "I do not run away!"

"No, you don't, you prefer to hide away in a building and ignore it!"

"Yes, and until now we've been fine!" The arguing stopped after that as the creature came into view. Seeing it Six suddenly froze completely still, "This is it…" This alerted the others, "This is what?" Nine asked quickly, optics still latched on the approaching creature. No answer, so Eight came up with his own conclusion, "Ah hell, this isn't when you figure out I've got a backup death in case I didn't die the first time is it?" Six simply stared at the approaching creature, "This is it… takes the source." The bully raised his knife, "So this IS when I die! Why am I getting screwed over?" That was when Seven and Five both stopped going at the bridge and started to retreat away from it.

The creature was halfway across the bridge and it began to give out underneath its weight. Two spoke up now, "This is the only chance we have! We must run!" Five nodded a bit and followed after his mentor, Seven right beside him. The others followed until Seven was alerted by Three and Four tugging on her arms, pointing back behind them. "What- Six!" Looking back she saw the artist still by the bridge unmoving, "Six, come on!" This caught the attention of Eight, "Oh what in the- That's it! After this we're even!" He dashed back toward Six as fast as possible, grabbing his arm and pulling him, "Come on Six! Get a move on!"

"Takes my source… It takes my source…" Six said softly as though he was zoned out, unable to think of anything else. "Eight!" One called back, "Get him!"

"I'm tryin'!"

"Try harder!" Easier said than done. Giving in Eight finally spoke, "You owe me." He then tossed the smaller over his shoulder and sprinted towards the others. At this point the bridge gave out and the creature remained on the other side of the trench. Six merely watched it, as though they were both looking into each other's eyes, a hidden meaning. Six could only whimper as he stared.

_Six's eyes locked with the creature's as it prepared to take his source. He could only stare at the creature as he waited for it to occur. He didn't want this to happen._

* * *

><p>They had finally made it away from the creature, now hiding inside of what could only be considered One's nightmare. An old abandoned car. "I swore I would never be in one of these again." One muttered out as the others tried to think of what to do. Six had fallen completely silent, into a state of shock, simply sitting there clutching his key tightly. Five tried to comfort him, "Six it's okay. Everything will be just fine." The striped one didn't respond, the apprentice sighed a bit before going to Two, "He's still not talking. I'm a little worried." The Inventor nodded, "He'll be fine. He just needs some time to get over it. It's just a bit of shock." Eight shrugged, "Yeah, well it's creeping me out a bit."<p>

He bully's hand waved in front of the smaller's optics, watching as they didn't even move at all. He crouched down and clapped in front of him, "Come on Six, you're really freaking me out." Still no answer, "Fine then, play that game. Whatever, but just listen. Okay…" He disliked having to do this again, "Okay… Wanted to kind of say thanks for, you know, practically getting yourself killed just to make sure I lived. I mean, I didn't see much cause of the lights and- you know what I mean. The whole thing was pretty messed up. Then I-"

"Eight." Six said softly finally speaking. Eight was taken aback, "Hey, look whose finally came around." The artist turned to look at Nine, "Nine… Nine…" He called, slowly standing and heading to Nine who was shocked to see him talking, "Six? Are you okay?" Six grabbed him by the shoulders, "The first room. Go back to the first room." He didn't seem to understand, "What do you mean?" Repeat, "Go back to the first room. The first room. Go back…" He then whispered, "You missed it." Still a confused look until Nine suddenly seemed to have his optics widened in realization, "The first room…" He pulled away, "I know where I need to go." Then he suddenly ran out of the car through the slightly ajar passenger door.

There was a pause before Eight spoke, "Let's hope it's to hell." He was met with a few glares and stares, "What? You can't say you're not thinking the same thing!" At this One gave a soft shrug in acceptance, receiving his own glare from Seven.

* * *

><p>When Nine had to leave for 'the first room' they didn't expect it to take THIS long. "At this point we could've killed it. Done something at least." Eight said leaning against the seat, "And is it just me or is it gettin' really hot in here?" One glared, "It is just you. It's just cramped and uncomfortable in here." There was another pause as the group of eight waited for the ninth to make his appearance. At one point Seven spoke, "What is that creature? Why is it after us?" The leader glared, "Why do you think? It's just like the others. It wants us gone." He hoped that would be the end of it, however Five spoke next, "It was like it wanted to get up. The machines wanted to take us to it. It-"<p>

"It doesn't matter!" One yelled out, trying to silence the confrontation right then. However, this only made it worst as a tone in his voice was caught, "What's wrong with you? Why are you getting so defensive?..." Seven's optics widened before closing to slits, "You know what that thing is, don't you?" The leader didn't respond. "You just keep us in the dark as you lead us blindly, because maybe we wouldn't fight back. Maybe we wouldn't realize you don't know what you're doing." Now Two started to intervene, "This is just the heat, we need to stay calm." One stood, glaring Seven down, "I'll have you know I only did what was best. I didn't bring the damn thing up because all it would do is cause you all to live in fear."

"Why? That's how you want us to live."

"You have no idea what that can do!" One approached, "The fabrication machine was never to be brought up again! Not after I found out how it worked! Not that I found out what it was!" At this Six spoke up, "Take our source…"

"Yes, it takes our source. It takes our soul out! We are gone, and there is no way to come back from that! You are gone! All that's left is an empty shell that used to be your body! I didn't want to see the thing again, nobody deserves for that to happen to them! That's why I hid away! That's why I made us a sanctuary! Because I wasn't going to let that happen to us!" A sudden silence filled the entire car. Not one single noise until One spoke again, "And dammit it is not hot in here!" Then the leader turned away, climbed into the backseat, and disappeared from the other's view. The silence still reigned for a bit before Two sighed, "I'm going to go talk to him..." Then disappeared into the backseat as well

There was a pause before Eight spoke, "I'm not one to go against One's ideas… But it's really hot in here." Six sent him an almost exhausted look before clutching onto his key tighter. In the back One was on the verge of screaming as he witnessed everything falling apart. This was absolutely perfect, trapped in a car, stalked by a monster, overheating, absolutely fantastic. He heard someone approaching, "Eight, leave before I have to yell at you." The approaching didn't stop, "Six?"

"No, but you're getting a bit warmer." Two said softly as he stood alongside him, in the backseat floorboard. The leader glared at him, "I would love to have a battle of wits with you anytime other then right now. I'm not in the mood." The other pressed, "You know that they would have to know eventually. You knew one of them would ask. It's alright though. They understand what could happen and-"

"Silence!" It was slightly ironic. At that exact word it was as though every sound vanished. Two's voice, the noises in the front seat, even the soft breathing, as though One was holding his breath. At this point Two just stared, remembering the last time he was spoke to in that tone as though it was yesterday. Back when it was just them in the emptiness, back when they almost split up for Two being to 'childish', back when he didn't think a machine would attack him, and back before his limp. The day he had almost died and the day One saved him, even after yelling at him. It brought up other memories too; some good, some bad. At this though, Two simply turned away and left.

Five had heard One's command and had fallen completely still until he saw Two reappear, looking a bit distressed in an un-Two-like fashion. He approached his mentor slowly, "Two? Is everything okay?" As soon as he showed signs of concern Two put on a reassuring smile, forced naturally, "Yes Five, everything's fine. One is just a bit wound up right now." There was a pause as he seemed to zone out a bit, coming back slowly, "Everything is okay." Now the apprentice could only watch as Two struggled to keep the smile still intact, "Everything isn't okay, is it?" He could see right through him. With a soft exhale Two shook his head a bit, "No, we're safe, we'll be fine. Nothing has gone wrong yet."

"That's not everything. How about you, are you okay?" Another second as Two contemplated speaking, "Maybe not, Five. Nothing has yet to go wrong and yet we're falling apart. I'm sure it's the stress, and I'm sure when the time comes we'll be fine." Again another forced smile that caused the younger to finally speak, "Two…"

"Yes?"

"I'm… I'm glad you're alive." At this a true smile finally formed, "I am too, but not as glad as I am that you are alive." Five sent a quizzical expression, "But if you were gone you wouldn't know if I was alive or not."

"I would feel it Five." He said softly. Then suddenly Five embraced Two, just clinging on as though he was afraid that Two would be taken out of his grasp right now. Two was in a soft state of unexpected shock but still embraced back, both just standing there hugging. Seven watched the whole event with her own smile, finding it rather sweet on many levels. She almost didn't hear the soft footfalls as someone approached her. Glancing back she noticed Six right beside her, "Seven?" his voice was soft in a way she hadn't ever heard before. She became concerned, "Yes Six?" She almost smiled at how this conversation mimicked Two and Five's. The artist sat down beside her, "I… I like you."

Six saw it as the best time to do it. They had a chance of losing their lives, and he couldn't remember the rest of the vision anymore, so this might have been the only time to say it. Seven smiled sweetly, "I like you too Six. I'm sure we'd all be gone by now without you." There was a slither there in Six's voice that wasn't in Seven's. "No… I mean I _like _you. Feels weird, tingling, good, around you." The warrior paused for a second before speaking, softly laying her hand on Six's pen tipped one, "Six I… I'm sorry, but I don't feel the same way. I really care about you, but not in that way." The artist had braced himself for this, so the hurt wasn't as bad as it could've probably been.

It still hurt. "I understand… Knew you wouldn't… I'm a freak." The words were a mimic of what Eight used to tease him with, calling him a freak. Seven gently touched his cheek, making him look at her, "Don't say that, Six. You're not a freak. It's not your fault, it's mine, I just don't feel the same. You deserve something better, okay?" The Artist nodded a bit, "Okay…" But he didn't seem convinced. Even when she hugged him a bit, he still seemed upset. After a few seconds he wandered off, trying to get as far away from Seven as possible. Somehow he ended up beside Eight again. The bully looked at him oddly but said nothing. They just sat there in complete silence until Six spoke.

"Hurts…" Eight stared at him, "What hurts?" Six let his hand slide down to the center of his chest, "Here… Hurts here… My source hurts." The bully just watched for a second, "Don't know how you fix somethin' like that." He responded, before asking, "You're not gonna cry again, are you?" At that point the smaller was shaking a bit, "Seven doesn't… Like me…" Then he was making soft choking noises as he clutched onto his key. Half knowing what was going on, Eight groaned at having to again step in. He patted Six on the back a bit, "Come on, stop crying'. She's not the only girl in the world." He then paused, "Yeah there's Three and Four…" Another pause, "Well we can both be alone together, how's that?"

That was supposed to comfort him, wonderful, but at least it stopped the crying. "Thank you Eight… Sorry…" Eight continued to randomly pat his back, "Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm here for." Back with Five and Two, Two decided to head back to see if he could calm One down. Five now headed over to Seven, "Hey." She looked a bit upset. "What's wrong?" Seven merely shook her head, "It's nothing. How is Two?"

"Fair. He's going to go talk to One." Seven seemed to now glare at the roof, "Why would he ever want to do that?" It wasn't really a question and the one eyed one merely sighed a bit, "I'm sure he's right. Two's always right. Everything will be fine." He settled down beside her, noticing her soft nod of agreement. They had only been beside each other for a few seconds before suddenly Four dashed over to them. She gestured over to the ajar door where Three was looking out, then projected a picture of the number 'Nine' on the seat. At this point Three ran over to her sister as Five stood, "Nine?" at this time Nine made it through the door, "Alright, I know how to stop it! I know how to destroy it!"

At this second Six trembled in horror, another piece of his vision suddenly reappearing in his mind.

It wasn't good.

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><p><strong>Mable: I don't think they could survive more bad news. They're already surviving on borrowed time, in a hot car, being chased by the Fabrication Machine. Next chapter up soon, I hope you enjoyed!<strong>


	7. Chapter Seven: For the good of the many

**Mable: With a chapter title like that you have a sense of complete forewarning. Yeah, I think everyone loves that term by now. I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

_**See all of us**_

_Chapter Seven: For the good of the many_

"It wants our souls and uses the talisman to take them from us. Without it, it cannot work the same way. If we take the Talisman we can use it against him!" the explanation was short, sweet, and to the point. Nine speaking rather quickly as though he was afraid that he'd forget it, "We have to get the talisman. Then we can destroy it." Now One had finally made his was out of the backseat and approached Nine with a scowl on his face, "Another suicide attempt, I see. However, I'd prefer if we didn't all die." This was immediately countered by Seven who spoke in a way that tried to indicate little hostility, not wanting another fight, "It might work. It makes complete sense since it didn't awaken until the Talisman was in it, maybe it will shut it down."

Still the leader protested, not the bit fazed or detoured by the Warrior's comment, "It is still suicide. One of us will have to sacrifice ourselves so the Talisman can be taken." Seven went to speak again but was stopped by another voice. "He's right." Six spoke up out of nowhere, slowly approaching with widened optics. "Saw it… Saw what will happen. Can't be changed. Someone will have to sacrifice themselves." It was amazing how One's glare somewhat diminished, "You saw it?" he asked a bit. "Yes." The younger said as he merely stared into nothingness, pupils widening as though he was seeing the vision now. Dancing in his vision as though it was some sort of play, a horrible nightmarish play.

There was a pause as the Leader slowly ventured forward, "Who is next?" Pupils shrunk again as they locked onto One's approaching frame, "What?" But before the question could be repeated, Eight reminded of his presence and spoke up, "He asked who's next!" Everyone, except One who was used to Eight's antics, winced at him simply yelling out like that. While Six merely shivered, "… Nine offers himself, he blames himself, but…" Now One was becoming a bit impatient with not receiving a single answer of any kind, "But what?" He demanded yet again and waited for the smaller to reply. "One must be sacrificed for the good of the many. That was what you said… before you ran in front of Nine... You're next."

Everyone was completely silent as they heard this, not expecting this answer at all. Everyone looked horrified, shocked, and had disbelief lacing their facial expressions. Everyone except for One who seemed to turn into a complete statue. No expression on his features as he locked optics with the artist who merely stared back, "One…" The leader turned away abruptly and spoke very quickly, "We will come up with a plan once we get in range of the Fabrication Machine." Then he passed the others, climbing out of the car and starting to head towards the creature they had previously been running away from. Behind him followed Two who was trying to catch up.

"One wait!" The stitch punk didn't comply and instead stared ahead, returning to a statue like state other than walking, "One!" Another desperate call came from the one behind him. Then Two caught up, grabbing his arm softly but with a firm grasp at the same time, "One, wait. We need to talk." The arm was ripped away from his grip, "There is nothing to talk about. My time has come, I am next." With a soft sigh, Two shook his head, "We can figure out another way, One. It'll be fine." With a growl One turned on Two, looking like he was ready to kill someone, "You keep saying that over and over again, constantly, non-stop, and yet every time you say it you are wrong. Do you realize that you are wrong? Do you realize this or are you naïve enough to believe that it will actually be alright?"

Harsh tone, Two winced a bit and spoke, "I'm not naïve One, I know it will be okay." He could hear the others a little ways away and glanced back, "We'll figure out a way." There was now a weird tone as the next sentence slipped out, "I already have." Then One slowly tugged away again and started in the same direction. Meanwhile Two could only watch after him, waiting for the others to follow up behind him and still trying to figure out any way that the sacrifice could be ignored, bypass, anything. He could only shake his head. When Five asked him if he was okay he couldn't force a smile, and instead replied, "I'm not sure."

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><p>The stitch punks all hid behind what remained of a small stone wall as they got to witness the Fabrication Machine trying to search them out. It was tearing through what little rubble and such remained in its way. Destroying anything breakable as it rampaged onward. How it got across the trench was a mystery, not something that seemed that important. Watching it, Seven shook her head, "We better hope this plan of yours works, Nine." There was a note of worry lingering there as she glanced back to make sure the twins were alright. Nine nodded a bit, "It will. I'm sure it will." Then that was when One finally spoke out, "When the beast starts this way I will run out and sacrifice myself, then Nine can take the talisman out and destroy it."<p>

There was a sudden choke in Two's voice, "What?" The leader watched the beast still prowl around and destroy the things in that remained in its path, "One must be sacrificed for the good of the many. I will give up myself so you will all live." This wasn't enough to convince anyone, "What makes you that 'one'?" Two asked quickly in retort with fear lacing his voice. "The number painted on my back." This answer was like a tease, as though One was giving Two a taste of his own medicine. "That's not what I mean! One, please think this over. We have other options."

"This is the only option." One said calmly, as though he had already made his decision and had accepted it for it's worth. As though he was already fine with having to die so the others could live. As though he accepted death. This was a completely opposite effect to what Two had, "One, please, you can't do this! There has to be something else!... I'm permanently injured," He referred to his limp, "I should go instead." At these words Five spoke up, "Two…" He fell silent as One spoke up again, "I will not let you die like this Two. It was my fault that you were attacked and almost killed, it was my fault you are permanently injured, it was my fault that I did not go after that talisman… I'll be damned to let anymore add to this list." He looked around the corner at the machine again, "Any minute now."

"No! Not 'any minute now'! One what are you thinking?" Two was panicking, grabbing onto One's hand tightly, "One please don't do this to me, don't leave me!" At this time the others remained completely quiet. At one point Six spoke up, looking over at Eight and whispering, "Eight, sorry." The bodyguard didn't even look over, "For telling' One he was going to die?" the artist shook his head, "No… You'll know…" these words confused Eight but he simply ignored the cryptic words and turned to his leader, "Boss, come on! You can't really do this." The leader merely shot him and Two exasperated looks before speaking, "This is for the best. Once I have perished… Two, I want you to be the next leader."

"One please don't…"

"Eight, you will still do you job. Guard your leader and make sure nothing happens to him."

"No, no, no. Please One, please." Two was near hysterics as he listened to his final requests. At this point Five was touching his shoulder in a somewhat comforting manner, one that barely helped in any way. Over apart from the group was Nine who watched the scene and literally wished he was dead. He had done this, this was his own fault. "One, let me go instead. It's my entire fault that this happened. Then you can grab the talisman." One merely glared him down, watching his every move, before he did something unexpected. He reached out and rested his hand on Nine's shoulder, "This _is _mostly your fault… However, you are too young to die, your innocence doesn't deserve death."

The hand dropped of the shoulder as though it had no energy left in it. One slowly moved out from behind the hiding spot, looking across the empty stretch to the creature, the Fabrication Machine. It was starting to turn their way and One inhaled deeply, "Farewell." Two tried to grab for his now slightly tattered cape, "One!" He was now choking on his words, "No…" Seeing how broken Two looked without One was what finally did it. As One went to run towards the beast he suddenly felt something catch his foot and he went face down into the dirt. At first he thought that he had tripped on his own and had made a complete fool of himself. He looked up and realized exactly what had happened and cried out, "You fool! What are you thinking?"

Nine had tripped him and was now running towards the beast itself only a little ways away now, staring right at the talisman. Behind him he could hear what sounded like another's footsteps but ignored it. Instead he stared up in the red eye and immediately closed his optics, stopping on the spot, he didn't want to see it happen. He heard it occur, he knew it was happening, but he felt nothing at all. Then it was over and Nine let his optics open. He was fine, he was alive, but… Then he looked down and immediately felt everything go cold. There at his feet was a body of the stitchpunk who leapt before him, sacrificing themselves for him. There was a look of complete horror as he recognized the body.

At this Nine looked up at the eye of the Fabrication Machine where the energy was being taken inside.

Six's soul looked back at him.

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><p><strong>Mable: No, SIX! How could this possibly happen? I blame Quarma. Okay, the next chapter will be up very soon. I hope you enjoyed! <strong>


	8. Chapter Eight: Awakening

**Mable: This is the end... Seriously. Last chapter. I can't believe it's already over... It is shocking. I would like to thank Aduro Witch and Zero the Hero, my reviewers; there were only two who reviewed, but I'm content. Two reviews are better than none. ^-^ To the readers who didn't review thank you for reading this. I would like to have special thanks to Meowth's Toon Dragon whose always supported me. A very, _very_ special thanks to xXBroken-Wings-ForeverXx who gave me that push, the confidence, and helped me incredibly while writing this fic. My first 9 fic finished... Wow... I don't own 9, Enjoy! **

_**See all of us**_

_Chapter Eight: Awakening_

"_Six_!" At once Seven's voice caused Nine to be brought out of his trance and he stared at the creature before him. Then he heard Two somewhere behind him, "Nine, the talisman! Get the talisman!" With this as his guide he ran forward and pulled the talisman out of the beast. Before he could do anything, something hit him, the machine knocked him away. Thankfully Nine didn't let the Talisman fall from his grasp and instead tried to use it on the machine. Now he was grabbed and lifted off the ground where yet another 'arm' appeared and attempted to grab the Talisman from him. He, knowing it could cause him to be injured, unzipped himself and shoved it inside against his inner metals.

Before he could be torn apart, Seven ran forward and leapt onto the arm that held him, digging her spear into the metals that held it together. The second arm grabbed her and tossed her to the ground, there was a small thud as she hit the ground hard. The arm started to drop down at her, she pulled herself backwards as it speared into the ground before her. It started to rise only to have Five leap on it, shears digging past the metal and into the cords inside. There was some sort of dull cry as the machine grabbed the shears and quickly pulled back, yanking them out of his grasp as he landed on his feet. He tripped backwards a bit as the arm pulled back before flicking the shears at him.

Somehow Five was able to jump back enough to have the shears stick into the ground before him instead of going into his fabric. He blinked a bit in shock before grabbing the weapon again. At this point Eight decided to run up, large knife in hands, and went at the arm holding Nine. With a nice deep cut the arm dropped Nine onto the ground. The machine immediately went to go after Nine. If it wasn't for Eight going at the arm again and the twins helping Nine up to pull him out of the immediate danger, then he'd probably been grabbed again, this time maybe torn apart. There was a thud as the Fabrication Machine hit Eight hard enough to cause him to tumble backwards down a soft slope.

Then it was back after Nine, Three, and Four. No longer did it even bother with Seven and Five, it just wanted the talisman back. It trapped the three, one arm dropping before them, impaling the ground and stunning them enough that the other arm could spring for them. Everything was stopped by a bright light right in front of the Fabrication Machine. Two had retrieved Nine's light staff from behind the wall and was creating a distraction, knowing the light drove it mad. Before he could get hit he began to run back out of the way, being drug by One, still using the light to distract it. "Nine, now!" Nine unzipped himself and grabbed the Talisman, using it and being blinded by a bright flash.

After a few seconds they were rewarded with the Fabrication Machine hitting the ground. Now gone, destroyed, laying there like the hunk of metal it was. Almost everyone let out a sigh of complete relief. Eight got up from his position at the base of the slop. Usually this was a time he would comment about how uncomfortable or 'stupid' the situation had been, but instead he dashed up only to stop and stare at the body. The striped stitchpunk laying there completely limp and empty, unseeing optics still open. "This was what you were saying' sorry about? What in the hell, Six?" Eight cried out and started to shake the body a bit, "Come on Six! I know you're stronger then this!"

Behind him One walked up with Two beside him, "Eight… He's gone." The bully stopped touching the body as simply stared at it. The twins clutched onto each other, soft flashes coming from their optics as though they were crying for their lost. Their artist, their guild, Six, was gone. Then Seven showed a sudden sign of weakness, a soft whimpering of her own as she blamed herself for what happened, only to be embraced by Five who tried comforting her as he did with Two earlier. It wasn't the same as before though, not nearly the same.

At this point Nine felt some sort of pulse coming from the talisman in his hands. He suddenly had a feeling and laid it gently onto the ground. A light came from it, and then from it came a green apparition in the form of a stitch punk. Nine was face to face with Six's spirit, and at first there was a pang of joy as though he thought he'd come back to life. The others stared at Six who looked around in almost confusion, looked down at his almost transparent hands, and then over to where his body was. Slowly he made his way over, staring down at his body in some sort of bizarre interest, or maybe it was sorrow. Eight looked up at him in horror, "Six?" The apparition peered at him and mouthed the word 'Eight'.

It couldn't speak, or maybe it wouldn't, but it did smile a bit as it noticed they were all safe. Then Seven spoke, "Six… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you earlier." The apparition shook his head a bit and still smiled as though everything from earlier was forgotten. Next to speak was Five, "Six I always tried to understand your nightmares. If I would have just listened carefully then I… This wouldn't have happened. I never thought you were crazy though, I always knew you saw something." At this the apparition came forward as to hug him. There was a rush and Five gave a soft gasp as Six literally went through his being, appearing on the other side. Six looking a bit disheartened at this.

Then it was the twins turn. They didn't speak, they didn't communicate, they just reached out gently. Their hands reaching out as to touch him. The apparition reached out, hands brushing through the hands of the twins as though to hold them, comfort them. They felt the tingling and seemed to brighten only a little bit. At this point One spoke up, "Six… I was wrong not to believe your visions. You still warned us. I owe you more then I can ever give you." He let his hand slide over to grasp Two's, "You should have let me take the fall." Another shake of the head, a small thanking smile, and the apparition seemed pleased. Before Two could speak another suddenly broke out.

"What were you thinking? Were you even thinking about what you were doin'? No, you just say 'I'm sorry' and go get yourself killed! This first time was fine, I was all with the 'us going' to rescue you and Four' thing, but we can't rescue you from this! You're gone! Do you even realize how gone you are?" The sudden rant from Eight caused the apparition to shiver a bit in surprise. He looked back at the bully, surprising him with a soft smile. Then he rushed over now trying to hug Eight, almost slipping through, stopping, and trying to fix himself to where he seemed to somewhat hug him. Eight just stared down at him. This was a far cry from bullying him not so long ago, they were different now.

Eight let his hands reach down and feel the apparition against him. It tingled where his hand touched or entered the green shimmer, but it wasn't the same. Eventually Six pulled away, backing away. Now Two spoke, "Six, what you did was my fault. I threw a rather large tantrum over One sacrificing himself. I didn't think of anyone else, anything else, I didn't ever even fathom that you would even think of…" Again Six shook his head. Then he smiled even wider, mouthing the words 'my fault'. Finally Nine spoke, "Six… Thank you." With a soft nod of understanding, Six moved back to look down at his own body. A sudden saddened look taking over before one of happiness returned.

Then something happened, lights danced about, and suddenly Six's soul started to rise up. The artist simply waved a bit as he drifted higher and higher until he was out of sight. There was a flash of light. Then nothing until soft droplets of water began to fall from the sky. It was raining. Slowly everyone started to regain their sadness. "He's gone." One said quickly, "Six has passed on. The Beast is dead. The world is ours now." At his words Two leaned over, resting against him a bit as he watched the others begin to morn their loss. The Inventor's optics looked down at the body of Six, at one point he actually pulled away and lowered himself beside the body, beside Eight who still stood there.

The rain came down a bit harder, not bothering the stitch punks since they were made practically waterproof and not affected by it. Three and Four watched it come down on the surrounding emptiness in silence. This was their world now.

This was their home.

This…

"He's alive!" Two's voice suddenly broke out of nowhere, "I can't believe it! Six is alive!" He shook the small stitchpunk, after a few seconds there was actually a small bit of movement from the 'body'. Eight was staring in shock, "This is like some sort of mind trip thing." He muttered out before starting to shake the smaller as well, a bit too hard at one point so Two had to tell him to be careful. The others grouped around and watched as mismatched optics slid open. As soon as Six made a soft groaning noise, Three and Four ran over and clutched onto his lower half, embracing him tightly as if he'd vanish again. The artist blinked, "What... What happened...?" he asked softly as he started to move a bit.

"My boy, you just cheated death!" Two's voice was full of complete elation as he saw the younger start to come around more. At this point Five was by his side, "Does anything hurt?" Six shook his head, "Just feel weird… Feel fuzzy..." Looking up at the sky, Nine asked, "Was it the rain?" The leader stood beside him, "That or a higher power. This is a miracle." One's belief was an utter shock to Nine, "You really thing that it's a miracle?" he nodded, "Yes, I do." Meanwhile Eight was staring at Six, "How did you survive that?" he seemed beyond confused at the entire event and only barely grasping on. "I'm not going to wake up and be crashed in a ditch am I?" One scoffed, "I hope not. I would question how _I _arrived in the ditch as well."

"Yeah, us all bein' in the ditch is a bit suspicious." Eight said, crouching down, "This seems a bit weird though. You're not gonna suddenly die or something' are you?"

"Eight…"

"Or I'm not gonna die am I?"

"Eight…"

"This is-"

"Eight would you stop for five minutes so that Six can speak!" One spoke quickly in a rough tone, still stressed out. Still Six was smiling wide, "It's done." Two was quizzical, "What is done?" he continued, "The vision. It's done, it's finished. That was the end of the vision. We lived. We're okay." The sudden joy in his voice caused the last bit of doubt and fear to melt from everyone. "So the world is ours now. We need to make the best of it." Nine spoke as he looked up. There was a pause as this sunk in. Now they were safe, all of them alive in their own world. There was certainly a few surviving machines that would still hunt them, a few rogues, but they wouldn't be much of a threat.

"You know, you act like this is some sort of funeral." Eight said quickly, being corrected by Five, "Actually, it _was _a funeral. Until Six turned out to be alive." The bully gave a glare, "I know that, but we should be happy or something. We won!" He laughed a bit out of nowhere, receiving a few odd looks as he seemed to suddenly change emotions, "I can't remember the last time I slept..." There was the answer and Seven leaned over Six, "I'm glad you're alright." Six smiled a bit, "Seven, wasn't your fault. Sacrificed myself because… Because I thought maybe it would save everyone else, and it did." She embraced him, "You're not upset?" he leaned into the embrace, somewhat enjoying her small bit of affection, "No, not anymore."

The twins still clutched to his lower half, at one point Four leapt up and went over to Nine, grabbing his hand and tugging him to come with her back to Six. The male stitch punk simply stood there in confusion, then smiled a bit and followed her over to see how Six was. At this point Two moved away, wandering over to One smiling, "It seems that everything has turned out alright, as I said." One huffed, "Yes, yes, you were right. Everything turned out somewhat alright. Might I remind you that we still don't have a home, no bit of sanctuary, and my dignity still seems to have vanished without a trace." He wasn't paying attention to Eight who was lingering behind him.

"I think your dignity should return soon enough. What you almost did would have been the most selfless thing anyone could have ever done…" A sudden tinge of seriousness appeared, "Don't ever scare me like that again." The Inventor let their hands clutch together once again, "I don't know what I would've done."

"It couldn't have been much wor-" That was when Eight, who was still behind him, took a wrong step and fell practically against him. There was a ripping noise, a slow steady ripping noise, followed by Eight running as far away as fast as possible. One simply stood there, "Don't tell me." He slowly reached back and felt over his cape, feeling the long tear through the red fabric, "Eight is about to be as dead as a doornail when I'm finished with him."

"One, it's not that bad."

"_Eight_!" One growled out, seconds from hunting the stitchpunk down and making him suffer. He was stopped by Two circling him to look over the cape, "It's really not that bad a tear, One. I'm sure I could fix it, spend a few hours mending it." There was another huff of frustration, "I know something much more productive that we could spend a few hours on." There was a second as he realized exactly how suggestive the comment seemed. A soft pause. Then finally Two chuckled a bit, "Are you sure we should do something such as that around the others?" One shook his head, "You know what I meant." The Inventor continued to chuckle, finding the entire event humorous.

"I am pleased that my misery amuses you." One said while crossing his arms in annoyance. Stopping his assessment of the cape, Two came around One, "Such a grouch." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to the leader's cheek, "Even when we should be celebrating." This act spared Eight, as after this point One had his anger vanish completely. "I am not a grouch." He said quietly leaning closer in, "And I _am _celebrating." Their lips were together at that second. As if to punctuate the point entirely. This was possibly the worst time for Five to walk up so he simply backed away, not saying anything, and returned back to the others who were still grouped around the striped one.

Finally Six was able to stand, the twins stopping their clutching to help him up, and finally get his bearings together, "The vision is over, we have our source, but what now?" Seven simply shrugged a bit, "Try to rebuild, I guess. We could go back to the library since the cathedral is no longer an option." Easier said than done, "At least we have a plan." Five pointed out as he tried to keep from staring at the two being active a little ways away. "Least we're not dead." Eight also pointed out, slowly lingering around, tempted to go see One and see if the other had cooled down at all, "What're they doin'?" he asked as he noticed the two some ways away. He was ignored by the others, especially Five.

Looking around and the others, the others who had lived, Six felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. It had been a mere dream, a mere nightmare that he had after falling asleep while drawing. If he wouldn't have had it, seen it so vividly, then he wouldn't have seen the danger, but he had. Maybe all his prior drawings were gone, all his papers were burnt up, and ink would be hard to come by now, but he had lived and that made it all worth it. It could be alright now, they would begin a new stage in their lives.

"Why're One and Two pressing their mouths together like that?"

Certainly easier said than done.

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><p><strong>Mable: That's all! Well, no, I was thinking of writing an epilogue. It won't be much; short, sweet, and to the point. I hope you enjoyed the fic as much I enjoyed writing it. Believe me, other then being worried a bit, I really enjoyed writing this fic. As for One and Two lip locking, I couldn't leave it out. I'm sorry to those who didn't want to witness the two expressing their love. #^-^# I hope you enjoyed! Until next time!<strong>


	9. Chapter Nine: Epilogue

**Mable: Short, sweet, and to the point; just something to help finish the fic. I will write other 9 fics, might be a sequel, might be similar, but I hope that you liked this one…. I still take last minute reviews!... Yeah, that was desperate. Heh, never mind. Again thanks to reviewers, readers, supporters, Meowth's Toon Dragon, xXBroken-Wings-ForeverXx, Five, One, Two, Three, Four, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and my computer which is working somewhat better now. I don't own 9, Enjoy!**

_**Second Chance**_

_Chapter Nine: Epilogue_

A single last line was added to the clean sheet of paper before the scene was finished. Looking over the picture Six searched out for any imperfections that he could correct. Not a single one could be found so he nodded in his own agreement of it being complete. Then he lifted it carefully so that he would at all smudge the black ink that graced it. Looking around he searched out a place on his wall to put it, none of the eligible spaces looked good enough for it. He had been recently drawing landscapes and things that he could only assume used to exist before the humans were killed off. Maybe a bit different, a change of pace, but Six enjoyed it just as much.

The nightmares had stopped coming as frequently as well. Six's nightmares used to appear every time he went to sleep, now he had one every two weeks or longer. He stopped seeing the machines that plagued his mind before and the beasts were gone. Leaving his room, which was made of a small crevice that resembled his last 'room', he started to look around the rest of the sanctuary. The Stitchpunks had set up in a two story house, making their home in a built section between the second floor and attic. So far it seemed like a prefect replacement to the cathedral in being completely intact and safe. There were some small things that had seemed second best to the previous home though.

Two had recently been working on yet another watchtower that he was bent on making superior to the last one. However, this one was taking much more of an effort. Five and Two had been working on it for weeks already but it still had ways to go. Speaking of Five, he and Seven had grown even closer to each other. To say that Six was completely pleased about the entire idea was a bit wrong. He still had some little feelings for Seven, but ignored them since he saw they were happy. Small gestures like brushing their hands, sometimes a swift embrace, and other little things showed their relationship. Six used to wish he was in Five's place, but he had come to terms with it now. Now he was glad for them both.

Not that he was the only one; the other was Nine. Nine had a small crush on Seven for a while but it seemed to disappear since he was still best friends with Five and thought they were happy together. Meanwhile, at the same time, he started to spend more time with Four who seemed to have been taken to him. Yes, Three was not constantly with her sister anymore, but she didn't mind for she too wanted her sibling's happiness. The two slowly started to become closer, Nine and Four, but not as close as Five and Seven were. Six had also noticed the sudden change in One's behavior, possibly caused by the majority of time he had spent with Two. Not that it was unusual, the two had been incredibly close before the cathedral had burnt down as well.

Meanwhile Eight was still just Eight. This was what Six liked, they were still exactly the same, nothing different. Except for no longer being bullied, being knocked around, or having little malicious acts against him. Ever since he had jumped in front of Eight, getting taken by the Seamstress instead, the two seemed to form what could be considered a decent friendship. What could he say, Six liked Eight. In fact the thought caused him to come up with a small idea. He knew Eight was probably with One somewhere so he took this time to slide into the other's room and leave the picture on the bed. Then he left the room quickly and started to head back to his own room. The urge to draw was starting up again; to continue doing what he loved.

Things were finally looking up.

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><p><strong>Mable: Yes, short, but just leaving on a hopeful and positive note. ^-^ <strong>


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